MASS FLOW CONTROLLER WITH ONBOARD DIAGNOSTICS, PROGNOSTICS, AND DATA LOGGING

• Main Authors: SMIRNOV ALEXEI V, ALBRIGHT PATRICK, JORDAN CY, NAGARAJAN ARUN, ZOLOCK MICHAEL J, JOHNSON RYAN, FERNANDEZ ALEXANDER
• Format: Patent
• Language: English
• Published: 26.07.2012
• Subjects: ACTUATING-FLOATS; BLASTING; COCKS; CONTROLLING; DEVICES FOR VENTING OR AERATING; ENGINEERING ELEMENTS AND UNITS; GENERAL MEASURES FOR PRODUCING AND MAINTAINING EFFECTIVEFUNCTIONING OF MACHINES OR INSTALLATIONS; GENERAL TAGGING OF CROSS-SECTIONAL TECHNOLOGIES SPANNING OVER SEVERAL SECTIONS OF THE IPC; GENERAL TAGGING OF NEW TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENTS; HEATING; LIGHTING; MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; PHYSICS; REGULATING; SYSTEMS FOR CONTROLLING OR REGULATING NON-ELECTRIC VARIABLES; TAPS; TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER US CLASSIFICATION; TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC; TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC CROSS-REFERENCE ART COLLECTIONS [XRACs] AND DIGESTS; THERMAL INSULATION IN GENERAL; VALVES; WEAPONS

A mass flow controller and method for operating the same is disclosed. The mass flow controller includes a mass flow control system to control the mass flow rate of a fluid, and a data logging component that obtains snapshots of condition-specific-data for each of a plurality of reoccurring condition types, and reduces each snapshot of condition-specific-data to functional parameter values that characterize each snapshot of condition-specific-data, and the data logging component generates statistical values that are stored in a short term data store that characterize multiple functional parameter values that are obtained during each separate occurrence of a specific condition type. A diagnostics component diagnoses failures using current functional parameter values and the statistical values stored in the short-term memory, and a prognostics component predicts failures based upon a collection of data sets that are stored in the long-term memory.